The galaxy - given the catchy moniker UDFj-39546284 - formed within 380 million years of the universe itself, researchers said.

Above: the new detail of the Ultra Deep Field

Six other distant galaxies captured by Hubble existed within 600 million years of the universe's creation, it is thought. Light from the galaxies has taken more than 13 billion years to reach the Earth.

They were photographed using an infrared camera to study the Hubble Ultra Deep Field between August and September 2012. Astronomers judged their age from the redshift - how much their light has been warped by the expansion of space.

"The cosmic dawn was probably not a single, dramatic event," study lead author Richard Ellis, of Caltech, told Space.com.

They added that NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, set to launch in 2018, will give an even more detailed look at the universe's ancient origins.